Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Coordinator: Katie Young
June 10, 2016
2:00 pm CT
Operator: Welcome and thank you for standing by. At this time all lines have been placed in a listen-only mode until the questions and answer session. At that time if you would like to ask a question, please press Star 1.
Today's call is being recorded. If anyone has any objections, you may disconnect at this time.
I would now like to turn the call over to Chris Kosmos. Thank you, you may begin.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks, Operator. Good afternoon everyone. This is Chris Kosmos. I am the Division Director for the Division of State and Local Readiness and one of the co-leads of the State Coordination Task Force which is the incident management within the CDC incident management structure.
So I just want to welcome all of you to this call today to introduce CDCs Zika Response Plan for the continental US and Hawaii. We have invited - just so you know - across the nation, state health officials, MCH directors, lab directors, epidemiologists, preparedness directors, local preparedness people, professional organizations, etc. All to introduce to you the CDCs Zika response plan.
We've got a number of people here today to go over the document with you. I wanted to just point to the documents that you received late last night. You received a two-page summary of the CDCs Zika Response Plan, as well as a complete version of the draft interim response plan.
I will call your attention to the fact that it's called draft interim response plan because, as you know, this is a living document and will continue to be revised and updated as we learn more.
So the purpose of the call today is to walk you through the document and to outline some of the highlights of the major components of the plan, and also to get any suggestions that you might have for comments for future versions of the plan.
So the other thing is, I think for many of you this will look very familiar, as a lot of the content was included in the ZAP summit. It also reflects a lot of the feedback that we received on a lot of the national calls that we've had. Some of you have even commented on major components of the actual plan.
So let me walk through our CDC staff that's going to present the plan today. First of all, you're going to hear from Dr. Lyle Petersen who is the Director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases and also serving as our Zika Incident Manager.
Rachel Gorwitz is going to talk about the Zika transmission area. Maleeka Glover is going to talk about the CERT team. John O'Connor is going to talk about public information and communications. Marc Fischer is going to discuss epidemiology. Audrey Lenhart is going to be discussing vector. Peggy Honein, pregnancy and birth defects. (Matt Kuehnert) for blood safety. And (Kim Hummel) on laboratory diagnostics.
As always, at the end of this presentation we're going to have comments and suggestions from all of you. And in addition to that, if you don't have an opportunity - or you think of something later that you would like to comment or suggest - the preparedness@ box is a way for you to also give us your draft or your comments or suggestions.
So with that I'm going to turn it over to Lyle Petersen, who's going to give you an overview of the plan.
Lyle Petereon: Thank you, Chris. And first of all, I'd like to thank you all of you for joining the teleconference. This is a very important event. It's an unprecedented event. This is the first time a vector-borne disease has caused birth defects. And the first sexual transmission of a vector-borne disease. And certainly we expect many surprises to come as we get into mosquito season in the continental United States and Hawaii.
I'd like to also mention that this is the most complex infectious disease response ever done by CDC. It's literally almost every part of CDC that is involved in this response, all the way from the Vector-Borne Disease Division, of course, through sexually transmitted diseases through birth defects, etc.
I think it's also important to point out our primary goal is to protect pregnant women. There's a very high public awareness and concern about Zika virus. I don't think that's any great surprise to you.
And the public expects us to do everything possible to prevent the spread of Zika virus in CONUS and Hawaii.
So, our CONUS Response Plan is intended to collate and provide guidance for the many facets of the public health response regarding all of the areas that are involved. And it's important for us to identify and respond to local transmission in the continental United States and Hawaii in the most expeditious and efficient way possible.
And the response plan is also intended to outline some of the expectations and areas of interaction and support with all levels of the public health system to respond to this complex problem.
So, on this call in the next couple of minutes, I'd like to discuss briefly the current epidemiologic situation here in the US to put us all on the same page. What we would expect to happen with Zika virus and CONUS which is the basis of our response plan. And then we'll go into the aspects of the response plan itself.
So as many of you are aware, the Zika virus in the America's first locally acquired case of Zika virus was in Brazil in May 2015. And as of June 2nd, local transmission has been reported in 39 countries and territories in the Americas. And we expect further spread to other countries in the region as time goes on.
Local mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus has not yet been reported in the continental United States, fortunately. But we expect that situation to change as we get further into mosquito season.
However, with the current outbreaks in the Americas, the number of cases in US travelers has increased substantially. And we expect more cases to continue. And for each of these cases, as mosquito activity picks up, there's certainly the possibility of starting local transmission anywhere where vector mosquitos are present in the continental states and Hawaii.
As of June 3rd, we have 667 tracked cases of travel-associated Zika virus in the United States. One case of Guillain-Barre syndrome has been reported. And 11 cases of sexual transmission. And, as I mentioned, no local cases of transmission have yet occurred.
We also - of this number - we have 206 cases of Zika virus infection in pregnant women, and obviously, this is of huge concern.
In the US territories, the number of cases continues to increase. We have about 1,100 cases of local transmission currently in US territories.
So based on our previous experience with chikungunya and dengue virus, which are circulated by the same vector mosquitos and involve human-to-mosquito-to-human transmission the same as in Zika virus, This has guided us to how we're thinking about how Zika virus may spread in the contiguous United States.
So far with chikungunya virus, which was the latest invader to the Western Hemisphere, again, it's spread by both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos from human to human. Despite thousands of imported cases of chikungunya virus, we've only seen 12 locally acquired cases of chikungunya reported in Florida in 2014.
And only two of those appeared to be linked to their proximity in time and space.
Transmission was limited to four counties in South Florida. And a single case was reported in a resident of South Texas in 2015.
Similarly, with dengue, which produces symptoms in about a quarter of the cases, this has been reported in five states. However, sustained local transmission has only been noted only in Southern Texas along the border with Mexico, as well as in South Florida, the Florida Keys and Hawaii.
So, what these experiences have told us is a couple of things. One is that local transmission of Zika virus is most likely to occur in the most southern parts of the United States, like Florida and Texas, for example, as well as Hawaii where a sustained transmission has occurred from the Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
So, of course, we don't know exactly what's going to happen with Zika virus as we have no experience with this in the continental United States. However, these experiences with dengue and chikungunya suggest that a local transmission - if it occurs - will be geographically limited and cover a relatively small area compared to what we've seen in Latin America and the Caribbean.
So, based on this we have developed our plan. And the purpose of the plan, again, is to describe CDC’s plans to support state and local efforts to prepare for and respond to the first locally acquired cases of Zika virus infection in the continental United States and Hawaii.
Of course, strong collaboration with the states and local partners is very critical for all of us within the public health system to successfully respond. And this response plan, as Chris has mentioned, was created with input from state and local officials including input provided at the CDC-hosted Zika Action Plan Summit for state and local officials, which was held on April 1.
As was also mentioned, we are continuously responding and improving our recommendations based on issues identified during this outcome and continued feedback from the states. And we fully encourage you - as we move into this - to continue to provide suggestions as we go along.
And, of course, this plan will be amended as we learn more about Zika virus and get into the summer transmission season.
The response activities outlined in the plan are based on the currently available knowledge about Zika virus and its transmission. And, as I mentioned, these activities may change as we learn more as we get into the summer.
So, our Zika Response Plan is based on several key assumptions. First, the travel-associated and sexually transmitted cases will continue to occur and they're likely to increase. Local transmission of Zika virus in the US territories and affiliated Pacific islands is ongoing. So, we will continue to have more cases.
Neither vaccines nor proven clinical treatments are expected to be available to treat or prevent Zika virus infections before local transmission begins in CONUS or Hawaii. And the ability of mosquito control efforts to reduce infection risks may be limited as has been the case with similar viruses, such as dengue and chikungunya.
Our plan is based on a phased approach. And CDC guidance to state and local jurisdictions recommends that Zika action plans be developed to guide response activities through a phased approach based on first preparation for local transmission. Second, identification and detection of local transmission which either could be a singly locally acquired case or cases in a single neighborhood continuing on through ongoing local transmission in a limited area or ongoing local transmission over a wider area.
We do not expect transmission to occur over entire states, for example. And each phase CDC and the local - and other federal partners will continue – to coordinate closely with state and local officials on a defined set of activities aimed at reducing the risk of local transmission.
The response plan includes detailed guidance for states supported by federal government partners on critical areas that will be touched on briefly by our SME’s who will provide a brief overview of each critical area.
And before I turn this over to my colleagues here, I'd like to touch on a couple of points regarding the general strategy. First, it is expected that all cases of Zika identified within CONUS and Hawaii receive epidemiological and entomological evaluation and appropriate intervention as required to prevent further spread.
It's also very critical to detect local transmission early so that appropriate epidemiological and entomological investigation can be carried out and an effective, early response made.
It’s also anticipated that there will be enhanced public and media interest in such events, particularly early in the season when these events remain novel. CDC would like to deploy a CDC emergency response team, or otherwise known as the CERT Team, for these early events even though the state may have experience with dealing with mosquito-borne diseases.
We feel that this experience with us working with the state, as well as the intense media interest that will likely to occur, will benefit all parties involved.
Finally, all components of the response will be discussed by our SME”s will be phased up according to the level of transmission within the defined areas, which will be discussed right now.
So, with that I'm going to turn it back over to Chris.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks, Lyle. One thing that I would just like to mention before we go into some of the various components of the plan is that this call is intended to be for our state and local partners and professional organizations.
And if there are media on the phone, you can stay or disconnect and we will not be responding at this point to media inquiries because the point really is to have a discussion with our state and local partners.
So, let me turn it over to Rachel Gorwitz who's going to talk about Zika transmission area aspects of the plan.
Rachel Gorwitz: Thank you. So, I'm talking about defining a Zika transmission area, which is Appendix B in the guidance.
And the purpose of this guidance was to assist state, local, and tribal public health officials in defining the geographic boundaries of the Zika transmission area in which local mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus has occurred, and then communicating the boundaries of the area to the public so that they can take action to protect themselves.
So in other words, once you've identified local mosquito-borne transmission of Zika, this guidance talks about how you determine the geographic area where local transmission may be ongoing. And then, how you communicate with the public about this area, both in terms of describing the boundaries of the area and providing recommendations for people who live in, work in, or travel to that area.
And we recognize that there's not a one-size-fits-all approach. There are a number of human, environmental, and vector-related factors that will influence these assessments of the likelihood and scope of ongoing local transmission. Therefore, the guidance is very much a general approach and not a very formulaic cookbook approach.
In terms of defining a Zika transmission area, once you've identified the first single confirmed case of local Zika virus transmission it may not be possible - and it generally won't be as possible - at that time to define a specific area in which Zika transmission is occurring.
However, identification of that first case should trigger a response that will involve more intensified case surveillance, as well as other response activities, which include immediate vector control, risk communication, and outreach activities.
And CDC would definitely like to be notified right away of any suspect cases of local transmission of Zika virus. In other words, Zika virus infections in persons with no known exposure through travel or sex, so that we can provide whatever support and assistance that would be useful to you in further identifying these cases.
Once you've identified two or more cases of local - confirmed local – transmission, that's where you really start to think about defining a Zika transmission area.
And as a starting point, we describe an area of one mile in diameter that encompasses the presumed exposure site, as that allows for a large margin of safety in relationship to the lifetime flight range of the mosquito vector.
However, the actual area will be influenced by a number of factors, such as the number and distribution of the cases, population density, vector surveillance data, history of local chikungunya and dengue transmission in the area, as well as a number of environmental and geographic factors.
Once you've defined those Zika transmission areas, you need to communicate to the public about that area so that they can take appropriate action to protect themselves. In our guidance, we recommend identifying the smallest, easily identified location that completely encompasses the transmission area and that can be described to the public using terminology and landmarks recognizable to residents and visitors, such as a neighborhood, a city, or a county.
And we recognize that when we define a Zika transmission area there can be - there likely will be disruption and potentially adverse impact to the residents of and businesses in the identified area. And in addition, there will likely be an increased demand for testing among people that live in or near the area.
So, by identifying the smallest, easily identified location that encompasses the transmission area that would help to minimize that disruption and adverse impact, as well as this demand on availability of diagnostic testing.
In order to display all possible local vector-borne Zika virus transmission occurring within CONUS and Hawaii in a standardized manner and in a single location, CDC plans to maintain on its website an interactive map of the United States that shows all of the Zika transmission areas, as well as the general area where a single isolated case of locally acquired Zika has occurred.
So, for the single cases, those would appear as yellow dots on the lower resolution view. So, on the country view and the state view, for example. However, when you zoom in more to a local or neighborhood area, those dots would disappear and that's because we - with a single case - we can't really say exactly where transmission is occurring or define a Zika transmission area.
The actual Zika transmission areas will appear as web dots on the country and state views. And then when you zoom in to the higher resolution, you'll be able to see the boundaries of the Zika transmission area. This is where we'll be working with each individual state as to how exactly those boundaries are going to be defined and displayed. As a mock up in the guidance, we showed it as a circle - sort of a fuzzy border - to denote that there's a clear mind of demarcation where transmission is likely to be occurring and not likely to be occurring.
But in reality it may be more of a - it may not necessarily be a circle. It may be, you know, more of a polygon or it's really going to depend on the individual circumstances. But the map will be updated regularly to add newly identified areas and to remove areas where local transmission has ceased.
In terms of recommendations to the public for Zika transmission areas, these recommendations for people who live in, work in, or travel to a Zika transmission area are consistent with CDC guidance for a person who travels to - or lives in a country or territory - with ongoing local Zika transmission. And specifically, those who are pregnant should avoid travel to the area. Or if they must travel, consult with their healthcare provider. And strictly follow steps to avoid mosquito bites.
Persons who live in or must travel to the area should use personal protective measures to reduce the risk of infections during mosquito bites and sexual contact.
Pregnant women whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, who live in or have traveled through the areas, should get tested for Zika virus infection in accordance with the CDC recommendations. And pregnant women will be prioritized for testing followed by symptomatic people, except in circumstances where testing a limited number of symptomatic people is crucial for monitoring key epidemiologic factors, such as expansion of the Zika transmission area or changes in transmission intensity.
And testing is not routinely recommended for asymptomatic men and non-pregnant women.
And then, finally, women and they're partners who live in a Zika transmission area should discuss with their healthcare provider pregnancy planning, including timing of attempted pregnancy and avoiding unintended pregnancy.
And then it's important to think about discontinuing the designation of a Zika transmission area once transmission has ceased. So, once you've defined a Zika transmission area, it will be important to continually assess the likelihood of ongoing transmission, taking into account multiple factors, such as the number, timing, and geographic distribution of new cases, vector surveillance data, and environmental factors such as weather.
And we think that once - it's reasonable that- once 45 days has passed with no new cases of local transmission identified or when environmental conditions are no longer conducive to mosquito transmissions, it would be appropriate to remove the Zika transmission area designation. And at which time the area would also be removed from the CDC maps.
And that 45-day period is based on a period of three mosquito incubation periods which, again, provides a margin of safety to suggest that ongoing local transmission is no longer a priority.
And that's all I have.
Chris Kosmos: All right. Thanks so much, Rachel. Now we're going to hear from Maleeka Glover who's going to talk about the CERT team. Maleeka?
Maleeka Glover: Good afternoon everyone. Just a brief overview of CDCs Emergency Response Team. The CERT Team will deploy as appropriate following a report of laboratory confirmed local transmission of Zika virus in the United States or Hawaii.
The essential point of the CERT Team is to provide support to state and local health authorities, an invitation for CDC assistance and response to the first case local transmission as based on preliminary discussion between the state and local health authorities, the CDC director, and the response emergency manager Dr. Lyle Peterson.
And during those preliminary planning discussions, they will have conversations regarding the type of assistance that is needed. And the CERT Team members that are deployed will greatly depend on the needs of the jurisdiction.
Some key considerations include triggers around that first case and how it was detected, as well as the capacity and resources for the local authorities.
The composition of the team includes epi-expertise, arbovirus expertise in particular, pregnancy and birth defects, vector expertise, lab expertise, and communications and in particular risk communications.
SMEs are there to provide technical support, guidance, and potentially provide support with filling gaps in state and local capacity.
Again, pre-deployment agreements, preparations begin once the incident manager approves the deployment request. And state and local health authorities are in charge of the investigation, and CDC is invited to assist with the response.
State and local health authorities and CDC will agree on investigation goals and activities prior to deployment of the CERT. And, as the investigation develops, additional goals and objectives, of course, may need to be added.
Once the CERT Team arrives they will need to work closely with the state and local health authorities to assess the situation and throughout the duration of the team's deployment.
When the support is no longer needed or investigation has concluded, the CERT field staff will meet with the state and local health authorities for an exit meeting to summarize response activities at this event and what actions are needed for follow-up as necessary.
Again, the purpose of the CERT Team is to provide technical support, guidance, and potentially filling in gaps where the state and local health authority needs for those areas of capacity. And we are there to assist the state and provide support for investigations for local transmission.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks, Maleeka. And with that I'm going to turn it over to John O'Connor to talk about risk communications.
John O'Connor: Thank you, Chris. And good afternoon everybody. I'll give just a quick outline of what is covered in Appendix D of the plan.
The goal of risk communications - the way that we've outlined it here - is to prepare for and immediately communicate and address concerns about Zika transmissions, the first confirmed case of local transmission of Zika infection in the United States, and subsequent cases that might occur.
The objectives that we've outlined include maintaining credibility and public trust by regularly providing timely, accurate, and actionable information about what is known and what's not known, and to dispel rumors and misinformation.
We want to increase access and knowledge of accurate information about Zika among affected populations and community members. We want to convey appropriate action messages for each audience that we're trying to reach.
We want to increase knowledge and support for vector control activities in communities as the primary way for protecting pregnant women and other audiences, and increase the capacity of healthcare providers to share accurate health information about Zika prevention to pregnant women and to women of reproductive age, their partners, and affected populations.
And we want to motivate action by community leaders and organizations to protect pregnant women from Zika infection and other people at risk, especially vulnerable populations.
It's possible that the first public announcement of a suspected or confirmed case of Zika in the United States might come through the news media or through social media. So, we’re going to be prepared. It's going to be important for state and local officials to be able to respond quickly.
To that end, we've recommended that spokespersons be identified now, and that they work on being prepared in advance of an event so that they can minimize delays in getting information out.
It's likely that at the beginning of an event there will be incomplete information, misinformation, there could be rumors, misconceptions among the public. We've seen some of that already with what's occurred with Zika in other countries.
Social media will likely increase the pressure and demand for information, and greatly expand the potential for rumors and misinformation. So, we need to be ready to respond to those kinds of things quickly.
We want to emphasize regularly in messaging that we do not know everything about Zika, clearly state what our guidance and recommendations are to the public, and then, if we learn more, that we will be changing our messages and updating things on a regular basis.
We really want to focus on calls to actions - specific kinds of things that people can do. This is a way to have them be able to channel their fears into productive action, and calm the undue concern that might occur.
To assist with messaging and communication materials, at CDC following the summit, we worked with a number of partners who developed materials that are available on our website. There's a real variety of things there, including press releases, fact sheets, infographics, videos, social messaging, social media messaging. That's all available on our website right now.
We'll be building that out even more with materials that we think will be very useful in a local area. So we encourage you to go to the site and take advantage of those materials.
And, Chris, that's it.
Chris Kosmos: All right, thanks so much, John. Next we're going to hear from Dr. Marc Fischer to talk about epidemiology. Marc?
Dr. Marc Fischer: Thanks, Chris. I'm going to discuss Appendix E, which is the surveillance section of the response plan.
The primary objectives for Zika virus surveillance in the United States are to identify local transmission and infections in people at risk for poor outcomes and to define affected areas in populations to direct the prevention and control efforts.
Surveillance and response should be performed using a phased and scaled approach, as Rachel described, based on the size, scope, area, and timing of the outbreak. These surveillance efforts require close coordination between state and local health departments, mosquito control districts, commercial laboratories, blood collection agencies, and CDC and other federal agencies.
All health departments should be prepared to identify, diagnose, and investigate potential Zika virus infections. These activities are important to mitigate the risk of sexual or local mosquito-borne transmission.
Because clinicians are integral to the surveillance process, all health departments should take steps to increase healthcare provider awareness of Zika virus disease and to ensure testing of potential cases.
It is also possible that a first local transmission case or travel-associated case could be identified through blood donor screening. Therefore, states should be aware if any blood donation centers in their area are conducting Zika virus blood donation screening. And, if so, the health department should coordinate with the blood center to determine how those results will be reported to the health department in a timely manner and what response should occur.
Dr. Tunick will discuss this further.
In locations with relevant mosquito vectors, health departments are encouraged to enhance surveillance for Zika virus disease when mosquitoes are present and active. The appropriate geographic scope and intensity of such increased surveillance depends on a number of factors, including whether Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus are present and active in the area, and the expected abundance of these mosquitos based on historical data, prior local transmission of dengue or chikungunya viruses in the area, numbers of returning travelers with Zika virus infection who may introduce the virus to the area, and then local population density and household infrastructure which may a role in the risk of wider local transmission.
There are a number of different strategies that can be used to identify possible local mosquito-borne transmission, including interviewing household members of confirmed travel-associated cases and testing anyone with symptoms consistent with Zika virus infection, educating local healthcare providers to solicit reports and encourage testing of clinically compatible illnesses and contacting local laboratories who are performing Zika virus testing to monitor the number and geographic location of suspected cases, and ensure that laboratories are aware of reporting requirements.
Finally, some areas may conduct syndromic surveillance at local healthcare facilities to detect early increases in illness that could be associated to Zika virus infection, or possibly unexplained clusters of rash illness.
Suspected Zika virus disease cases without travel-associated exposure or sexual contact with an infected person should be reported to public health authorities so that timely testing of clinical specimens can be facilitated and response activities can be readied.
Local mosquito-borne transmission by mosquitoes should be assumed when a case is confirmed and other routes of exposure, such as travel, sexual contact, and blood transfusion, have been evaluated and eliminated.
Under these circumstances states and local jurisdictions should implement the enhanced surveillance for Zika virus disease around the home of the confirmed locally acquired case and any other likely sites of transmission identified through the case investigation.
The surveillance and response activity to local transmission should be scaled based on the numbers of cases identified. These should occur through identifying the case residents, implementing targeted surveillance among household members and neighboring households, increasing outreach in communication to healthcare providers and general community, expanding laboratory testing and surveillance among laboratory testing, and increasing communication with mosquito control officials to coordinate surveillance and control efforts.
Finally, reporting of Zika virus disease cases is important. Zika virus disease and congenital infections are nationally notifiable conditions in the US; the Council State and Territorial Epidemiologist approved interim case definitions in February 2016, and these are available on line at CDC and at the CSTE website.
Revised definitions are being considered and will be voted on at the June CSTE meeting.
Healthcare providers are encouraged to report suspected cases to their state or local health departments, and state health departments should report laboratory confirmed cases to CDC, according to the CSTE case definitions. And pregnant women and congenital infections should be reported and followed through the US registries.
Timely surveillance and reporting allows health departments to assess and reduce the risk of local transmission, or mitigate further spread, under important activities in the response to the Zika virus outbreaks.
Thank you very much.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks very much, Marc. Now I'm going to turn it over to Audrey Lenhart to talk about vector control and surveillance.
Audrey Lenhart: Thank you, Chris. I'll speak about Appendix F which is related to vector control.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on immediate steps to accomplish effective vector control at varying levels as Zika virus tranmission risk.
The goal of vector control is to assess Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito populations in a coordinated and effective manner to prevent and interrupt the transmission of Zika virus.
The guidance is organized according to stated risk categories with recommended action corresponding to each phase level.
State health departments and localities that have or summarizes they have either Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes have Zika virus transmission potential within their state, and may need to respond to higher phase levels.
Many states lack evidence of proper inspectors and may remain at phase zero, which is preparedness.
In addition to the presence of competent vectors, the likelihood of Zika virus transmission escalating from phase level 1 to 2 to 3 or even 4 will vary depending on local factors including seasons, population density, or weather.
Previous local dengue virus transmission is the most relevant predictor of escalating Zika virus transmission risk.
The most important factors that contribute to Zika virus transmission are a combination of distribution of density of Aedes aegpypti and the importance of Aedes albopictus in widespread transmission is expected to be last.
The density of human populations and the likelihood of frequent case introduction from epidemic on endemic countries.
In this particular version of the plan, the vector control and surveillance activities have been updated from the interim guidance that was published in April. Activities associated with the individual phases but before mosquito season - the multiple locally acquired cases will remain largely the same.
The one notable exception is that this band will clearly indicate CDCs recommendations around initiating vector control with respect to travel and sexually transmitted cases.
We've also added $15 million to the existing vector-borne disease line of the ELC Grant. Various applications have been received and are being evaluated.
We have also created an emergency request mechanism for vector control. These requests should only be made after the state depleted their own resources for vector control.
Thank you.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks Audrey. Now we're going to turn it over to Peggy Honein to talk about pregnancy and birth defects.
Peggy Honein: Thank you very much. As Lyle mentioned, protecting pregnant women and their fetuses is the CDCs top priority for the Zika response.
Based on the evidence to date, we know that Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal defects. But there's a lot we still don't know about Zika virus, including how likely it is that Zika virus passes from the fetus - from the mother to the fetus. Or how often it results in poor infant outcomes when a woman is pregnant and becomes infected.
CDC and other organizations are working as quickly as possible to better understand the effects of Zika on pregnancy, and to prevent future infection among pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant.
But we cannot do it alone. Jurisdictions play an essential role in this coordinated effort. Identification of any local transmission on the continental United States and Hawaii will have urgent implications for these priority populations.
We at CDC are ready to immediately assist jurisdictions if they mobilize to protect pregnant women and track Zika infections in pregnancy. As you will see in the interim response plan we have outlined objectives that jurisdictions can use to frame their strategies and activities related to women planning pregnancy, pregnant women, and their infants.
First and foremost, those strategies and activities should focus on preventing infection among women of child bearing age and pregnant women and identifying, diagnosing, and caring for those pregnant women and their infants who are affected.
I'd like to briefly walk you through some of the specific objectives.
First, it will be important to deploy targeted prevention and education strategies for pregnant women, their sex partners, women of reproductive age, and healthcare professionals.
If a Zika transmission area is defined, messages should advise women of child bearing age and their partners to discuss pregnancy planning with their healthcare provider, including timing of attempting pregnancy and avoiding unintended pregnancy.
Messages should inform pregnant women of the presence of Zika virus in the local area and advise them to use personal protective measures to reduce the risk of infection from mosquito bites and sex.
Messages should also encourage pregnant women to see their healthcare provider and immediately seek testing if they think they might've become infected.
In addition to prevention measures, it will be vital to track Zika virus infection in pregnant women and monitor the fetal and infant outcomes following Zika virus infection during pregnancy.
This is the information we need to inform testing and clinical guidance and to ensure infected families are connected with the services they need. In collaboration with the jurisdictions, we've established the US Pregnancy Registration to track pregnant women with any lab evidence of possible Zika virus infection and monitor outcomes among those women and their fetuses and infants.
Many of you have already engaged in this effort. And we can encourage you to continue to report information to the registry.
In order to continue to effectively monitor all pregnant women who may be impacted, testing of pregnant women both symptomatic and asymptomatic should be prioritized, and labs need to ensure they are capturing pregnancy status.
Implementing rapid tracking of microcephaly and other poor infant outcomes once the Zika virus infection is confirmed during pregnancy will also be important. We have a funding opportunity announcement out right now to support health departments in developing such a birth effects tracking system and strongly encourage jurisdictions to apply if they have not already done so.
In the case of local transmission, jurisdictions can implement strategies to prevent infection among pregnant women and women planning pregnancy to prioritize testing for pregnant women regardless of whether they have symptoms. And to track infection and monitor outcomes among pregnant women and their fetuses and infants.
We encourage your feedback on this interim response plan. And thank you for all you do and will continue to do on behalf of pregnant women and their families.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks, Peggy. Now we're going to turn it over to (Matt Kuehnert) to talk about blood safety.
(Matt Kuehnert): All right, thank you. Hello everyone. I'll be describing plans to ensure the safety and availability of the US blood supply developed in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the American Association of Blood Banks, local blood collection centers and other partners.
I'm going to be referring to Appendix H, which describes the plan to ensure blood safety and availability.
The crux of this is really that the Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance for blood centers on donor screening, donor deferral, and product management to reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted by Zika virus.
It's divided into two parts. One is for unaffected areas that blood centers need to defer those that have had travel to affected areas and then also for those with sexual contact with those who traveled to those areas or are known to be infected with Zika.
For affected areas, it is a bit more complicated because blood centers have the option to either screen using an investigational test -- so they would need to participate in an IND to pathogen reduce components, which is only approved for platelets and plasma -- or they would need to outsource all their blood in an area that's called an affected area.
So, it's very important that states communicate with blood centers and with CDC about the definition of that affected area. So, while direct communication from health departments to blood centers is optimal and, in fact, absolutely necessary, health departments should report areas at risk for local transmission to CDC, so we can post it on a web page to ensure accessibility of the information for blood centers throughout the country as called for on the FDA recommendation.
What we will be posting on that web page? Information submitted from states on areas at risk for local transmission, and then also there will be an opportunity for the blood centers to enroll in a notification service to receive e-mails and new information as posted.
There is also a diagram of blood center notifications. It highlights that CDC recommends two or more locally acquired cases of Zika virus infection over 45 days in a geographic location as defined by the state as triggering these FDA recommendations. And as mentioned, that geographic location we've defined by each state.
The converse of the state talking to the blood centers about the affected areas is what Dr. (Fischer) mentioned in the (Epi) presentation, which is that blood centers are now proactively starting to screen donors for laboratory testing in the continental United States. There is one that's already online in Texas and more blood centers are likely to follow soon in several states.
So it's important for them to know to reach out to you in the event there is a positive laboratory test of a donated blood unit, which may be the first indication of local transmission in a state.
Chris Kosmos: Thanks very much, (Matt).
Our last speaker of the day will be Kimberly Hummel to talk about laboratory diagnostics.
Kimberly Hummel: Thank you. I will outline some of the CDC-issued guidance related to laboratory diagnostic testing for Zika virus. Real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR, is a molecular test that confirms Zika infections by detecting the presence of viral RNA. It can be performed rapidly and is highly specific.
CDC recommends Zika molecular testing for serum samples collected less than seven days and urine samples collected less than 14 days after system onset.
Today, the Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency use authorization for three RT-PCR assays. One is the CDC Trioplex real-time RT-PCR assay. And two are commercially available by Focus Diagnostics and Altona Diagnostics.
CDC Trioplex RT-PCR testing is available in 74 qualified public health labs in 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Quest Diagnostic Labs are able to perform the focused RT-PCR test, and the Altona test can be used in CLIA certified labs.
Although a reactive RT-PCR test is confirmation of Zika virus infection, because the presence of detectable viral RNA in blood or urine decreases over time, a negative result does not exclude Zika virus infection. In such cases, additional serologic testing will be required.
FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for the CDC Zika IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The CDC MAC-ELISA is intended for the detection of Zika virus IgM antibodies in human sera or cerebrospinal fluid collected several days to weeks after onset of symptoms or exposure.
The CDC MAC-ELISA is available in 38 qualified public health labs in 32 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. No commercial antibody tests are currently available. Because of this, when requesting Zika RT-PCR testing from a commercial testing laboratory, CDC emphasizes consideration for storage of a serum aliquot to allow subsequent shipment to a public health laboratory for a reflex Zika IgM ELISA testing to avoid additional specimen collection.
A positive IgM antibody test does not necessarily indicate a Zika infection because there can be cross-reactivity to antibodies from infection with other closely-related viruses such as dengue and yellow fever. Thus, results are considered presumptive positive until confirmed by a diagnostic test that can distinguish between Zika and other related viral infections.
This test, the plaque-reduction neutralization test, or PRNT, detects virus-specific neutralizing antibodies and can provide confirmatory results on Zika infection. If positive, the patient is confirmed to have Zika. Sometimes, however, even this test cannot determine whether a patient at some point in the past has been infected either with Zika or a related virus.
CDC issued updated guidance on interpretations on Zika virus antibody test results to be more conservative to reduce the possibility of missing the diagnosis of either Zika or dengue virus infection. PRNT testing is currently available at CDC and several public health labs.
The diagnostic testing capacity for Zika virus in the U.S. currently exceeds demand. However, the testing process can take up to a few weeks, particularly if antibody or confirmatory testing needs to be conducted. CDC is working to reduce the time it takes for samples to arrive at public health labs and for results to be returned to physicians and to establish additional testing capacity in private laboratories.
CDC continues to work with other USG partners. They work with state public health labs to establish plans for anticipated test demand.
Chris Kosmos: All right. Thanks, Kim.
So you’ve heard from our CDC experts. And now it is time to open up the line. So operator, if you'd like to open it up. And we do have a couple of questions that already came in through the mailbox. So you could either queue up on the phone or you could e-mail us at preparedness@. So while they are queueing up, operator, we will go over a couple of the questions that we already received in our mailbox.
Operator: Thank you. Let me give instructions again. And again, if you'd like to ask a question, please press Star 1. And please record your name when prompted. If you'd like to withdraw your question, you may press Star 2. Again, to ask a question, please press Star 1 and please record your name when prompted.
Chris Kosmos: So one of the questions that we received was about the funding opportunity announcement. We referenced two, and there are actually three funding opportunity announcements for state and local response. There is the ELC cooperative agreement for Epi labs surveillance vector. There is also the pregnancy and birth defects cooperative agreement. These are all in various stages of process.
And there is the PHPR, or the PHEP Zika cooperative agreement. And that particular cooperative agreement has a couple of different areas to it, including risk communications and emergency management and response coordination but also can be used for any gaps that state and locals have identified in their state and local plans that need further funding and coordination.
So we're asking that states kind of pull these three funding streams together to best meet the needs of state and local response.
So, operator, do you have any questions in the queue?
Operator: Yes. Thank you. Our first question comes from Vinny Taneja. Your line is open.
Vinny Taneja: Yes. Thank you. My name is Vinny Taneja, Director of Public Health for Tarrant County, Texas, which is Fort Worth.
I have a question about testing criteria. Right now, the way we're allowing testing is to utilize travel history as one of the filters. And the reason is there is really a lack of testing capacity. I mean, I have an LRN lab at our health department and, of course, our state lab is available. But we don’t have a whole lot of capacity.
So, if we continue to use that filter, it is not likely that we will find a localized transmission very easily unless it comes through by accident. So when is a good time to take that filter off? And what can be done to enhance that capacity fairly quickly?
(Lyle Petersen): Yes. This is (Lyle Petersen) and I can answer the question. The time is now. I think what we need to do is educate physicians. Make sure that the local physicians are educated to look for signs of Zika -- febrile rash, illness, conjunctivitis, arthralgia, etc. -- that would meet, - potentially meet the (CSTE's) definition or potentially meet, the CSTE’s definition and encourage those people to be tested.
I would also like to emphasize that it's important to try and get your clinicians to collect urines on acutely symptomatic people as well as serum, because experience from the state of Florida that was published in the MMWR a few weeks ago suggests that the urine is much more likely to be positive than serum and for a longer duration of time.
And the fact that we can make a definitive diagnosis by PCR in a test has a much higher (group) with it in the IgM. There are several advantages to doing that.
Vinny Taneja: Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Chris Kosmos: All right. Thanks. Operator, do you have another question?
Operator: Yes, thank you. Our new question comes from (Dee Petit). Your line is open.
(Dee Petit): Hi. This is (Dee Petit) from the North Carolina State Lab of Public Health. I would appreciate some clarification in terms of testing when the tests are performed at clinical diagnostic lab other than a public health lab using a recently approved EUA.
I think the speaker had indicated that they were requesting these laboratories to archive specimen. But I'm unclear about the exact recommendation and if you are speaking about evaluation of urine collected between 7 and 14 days, how they would process serum, the matched serum?
Woman: So, CDC is working to issue a Health Alert Network advisory, so folks are aware that now that commercial testing is becoming available for RT-PCR but the serologic follow-up testing is not available to commercial labs, and they have to think about how they're going to handle reflex testing if the PCR result is negative.
And so we're imagining that's going to happen in a variety of different ways in the states. And so we're working on just communicating that folks are aware that once they send off a sample for an RT-PCR test that may not be the only sample they will need to get from that patient, depending on whether it's positive or negative.
(Dee Petit): I guess I'm also thinking about the urine specimen. If the urine specimen is positive in that window of 7 to 14 days, should there be testing on that matched serum specimen?
Woman: Once the urine PCR is positive, you are done. That is a definitive result. That is Zika positive.
(Dee Petit): And no testing is done on the serum?
Woman: That's correct.
(Dee Petit): On the matched serum?
Woman: If you get a positive urine PCR, you're done.
(Dee Petit): Okay. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the Putnam County Department of Public Health. Please check the mute feature on your phone.
Man: Hello?
Operator: Yes. Your line is open, sir. Please, go ahead.
Man: Thank you. I was pleased to see that you'll maintain the map of locally acquired transmission. I was wondering if there would also be a map maintained of surveillance for the egypti mosquito to show what areas it is in and it's progression through the year.
(Lyle Petersen): This is (Lyle Petersen). I can answer that one, too. We do not have current plans to create a map of Aedes aegypti at the present time or Aedes albopictus, for that matter as well.
The surveillance for these two mosquitoes is rather spotty at present. And I don't think we have the information quite yet. It's one of the capacities that we would like to build in states with this supplemental money to do enhanced surveillance for aegypti and albopictus. And we are planning on doing - making maps for that, but it's not ready as of current time.
Chris Kosmos: All right. I just want to - we have one that came in through our mailbox and it was about individuals that are from non-English speaking countries and making sure that our materials are appropriate for other - that they're translated and that they're appropriate for other languages.
Chris Kosmos John, do you want to take the question on the top?
John O’Connor: Yes, Chris, I'm happy to. And thanks for that question.
So we tried this - we did several things following the Zika Summit, some of which were planned; others were not. One of the things that we do is with the CDC Zika website, we translate the entire website every evening into Spanish and Portuguese so that all the information that's available on the website is available in those two languages.
At the request of participants at the ZAP Wummit, we took a number of our fact sheets and infographics. And we translated those into six or seven languages that are most commonly used throughout the United States.
So in terms of the translation, we're sort of constantly thinking about that. But we recognize there is a lot more to reaching audiences than just having the language down. So, we also try to work through media channels that are trusted by audiences that do not have - that do not speak English as their first language. We work on getting our materials and messaging out through them, working with different organizations that do social media, targeting those populations.
We also have a campaign, as it is, focusing on Zika preparedness. And part of the work of that national campaign is to specifically target populations that are difficult to reach and that are at higher risk because of that.
So through translations and through these trusted media sources, that's the way that we're trying to get to as many different populations as we can.
Chris: Thanks, John. All right. Operator, next question please.
Operator: Thank you. We have a question from Texas. Your line is open. Again, please check the mute feature on your phone.
(Kurt Cole): This is (Kurt Cole) in Texas. I guess I just had a question on the mapping of the single cases. I understand when you get down to the detail it won't show where. Just concerned about the perception on a map of dot that will cover potentially a large area and it's that public information, that's information for the public, how do we make sure that's really clear that it's a single case and is very different from the same local transmission so we don't, in effect, issue a travel advisory, even though we're not going to issue travel advisories.
How do we make sure that that's not confusing to the public or people traveling to those areas that the risk, because it's a single, potentially local transmission case, that it's not the same risk as sustained transmission and that's not confused and then has unintended consequences related to travel and such to those areas?
(Chris): Yes. Thank you. We're planning to have messaging links to the map. So there will be - with each of those, there will be legends with a map indicating that the yellow dots indicate areas where there was a single case and when that occurred. It's not possible to define a transmission area.
And then, if someone were to try to zoom in further for more detail, those dots actually would disappear and they would get a message saying essentially that, that was a single case and that no Zika transmission area identified associated with that case.
(Kurt Cole): Okay. And just a clarification along those lines. I know the timeframe for keeping the designation on was 45 days. What if there are mitigation activities and other things that go on in that area that stay on 45 days, no matter what? Does the messaging - or would the messaging acknowledge potential mitigation efforts that go on.
I mean, if we go in and do vector control and we've done assessments in the area and those kind of things, does that end up just staying on because it was a local case but we have no other evidence of activity or we've done things to try to mitigate that activity?
(Michael Beach): Yes. Sorry. This is Michael Beach. Good point. I mean, I think that actually most states are doing that already with travel-associated cases and everything. We would kind of treat it the same way, which is that we still don’t know for sure that you wouldn't have the same transmission, so we would leave it on for the full 45 days despite - we hope that all those activities were being done. But we're still going to have it on there for that time just to be safe through the three mosquito incubation periods.
(Kurt Cole): Okay. Thank you. I think that one is still going to be an ongoing concern. Not seeing the exact messaging and all but understand the explanations. Thanks.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from (Martin Luta). Your line is open.
(Martin Luta): Hi. This is (Martin Luta) with the Denver Department of Health. This is just for clarification. I think one of the presenters mentioned that the first cases of Zika might be detected through screening by blood donor services. I was under the impression that blood donors will only screen only after local transmission starts. Did I miss something?
Matt : Sorry. I didn’t hear that. What was that?
(Martin Luta): The question is: I think one of your presenters indicated that screening - sorry, that the first cases of local transmission might be detected by screening through blood donor services. I thought that blood donor services can only start screening after local transmission has been detected in a state. So I may have missed something there.
Man: Yes. That's actually not true. They can start testing whenever they want; however, they do have to participate in an IND investigational protocol. So there is currently only one right now, which is Roche testing protocol. And soon there will likely be another one, another test manufacturer.
There are no licensed approved tests by FDA, only under IND; however, if the blood center wants to start screening by IND, they are free to do so. And that's true not only for large blood centers but also for hospitals that collect their own blood. And there are many that do that in small amounts, particularly for platelets. So I also wanted to point that out as to who might be reaching out to you or who you might want to reach out to.
Man: And at least one area has already started screening.
Matthew Kuehnert: That's right. Gulf Coast Blood Center has already put out a press statement that's public information that they started screening on May 23 and have not had any positive tests as of yet.
(Martin Luta): That's very useful information. If I may ask, do you have a sense of the cost of this kind of intervention?
Matthew Kuehnert I don't know the exact cost under the IND. The test manufacturer can only charge for cost recovery. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 to $12 a test.
(Martin Luta): Okay. Thank you very much.
Matthew Kuehnert Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from (Kim Porter).
(Kim Porter): Yes. Hi. This is (Kim Porter) at the Kentucky Department for Public Health. This is sort of related to what Texas was talking about. But would you be willing to talk a little bit more about the rationale for waiting to launch response - waiting for two or more cases of local transmission?
We were concerned and I think we talked to our blood centers. And they were a little bit concerned, also, just that because there are asymptomatic infections that, one would kind of be good enough for us to launch into response modes.
Could you talk a little bit more about that? Thanks so much and thanks for the presentation.
Matthew Kuehnert: Well, I think the idea is to establish there is local transmission going on and that two or more - and there are some differences actually in the CSTE’s recommendation and the CDC recommendation. CSTE says two infections over two weeks. CDC is over 45 days.
So I think you're free to, of course, to notify the blood centers of what's going on. But I think the idea is to establish that there is ongoing local transmission before triggering something that actually has a high risk of compromising blood availability in an area. So we just want to make sure that that type of intervention is warranted.
But concerning one case, we actually would expect that you would contact the blood centers if that is happening.
Does anyone want to add anything?
Man: I'll just add, I think one of the reasons for this issue with a single case is people move around in very large areas. And so really being able to nail it down to where they were exposed and that it's close to that blood collection area or to - if it's a residence or work or wherever is difficult with a single case.
And so certainly for some of the Zika transmission and everything, you really need to link at least two people together to get within a reasonable area where you know how to react to that. It may or may not be within certain blood collection areas. We wouldn't know where to send people.
Man: I think it's our rationale.
(Kim Porter): Okay. Thanks.
Operator: Our next question comes from (Miston Raine). Your line is open.
(Miston Raine): Hi. This is (Miston Raine) with U.S. Public Health Service, Indian Health Service in Phoenix. And I may have missed this coming on the call kind of late, but is there going to be sort of joint information center by the CDC so that we can guide our facilities and patients and people asking questions to that number? Or shall we just use the information on the CDC Website?
Thanks.
Woman: Okay. Maleeka, were you going to talk about that?
Woman: Yes. We can provide a number. Essentially providers and health departments should call the watch desk, which is 770-488-7100, I believe is the number. And they will be directed to the Clinical Inquiries team, which will be available to answer questions.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from (Bob Moscoff). Your line is open.
(Bob Moscoff): This is Bob Moscoff from Virginia (Unintelligible) Chief Deputy. Kind of want to address the definition of the geography. So assuming you were able to define it to a geographic endpoint and you draw a circle a mile wide and that's available to the public -- if I understand that's what you were thinking -- are there any issues with concern for patient confidentiality since you could roughly be the center of the circle and might define it down to a relatively small portion of a neighborhood.
Woman: The one-mile circle was really a starting point for identifying the area of transmission. Then we talk about communicating that area to the public, it won't necessarily be a circle. It would be - what we're thinking about is the smallest geographic area that can be easily communicated to the public and that encompasses that one-mile area. It could be a neighborhood. Maybe a larger area. But it wouldn't necessarily…
(Bob Moscoff): Who would be responsible for defining that area? The state or the CDC?
Woman: It would be the state in conjunction with CDC working together.
(Bob Moscoff): Yes, because that would be good. I think there are all kinds of potential ramifications to make that kind of information available to the public. Who would have the final choice as to what got put onto the map that you're referencing?
Woman: So we would use - CDC would use the area that was provided to them by the state or local area.
(Bob Moscoff): Okay. Then the state would.
(Michael Beach): This is Michael Beach. I do think what we want to be sure of is that this is an area where the public can clearly understand what it is. And I think we struggled with it in discussions with lots of people and ourselves is if you make the area too large, people don’t really get it and then they ignore it. We have to be able to message the people there rather distinctly.
We don’t want to put a whole state or a whole metropolitan area if it's a small part of it, because we think that's very difficult to understand and very destabilizing. And it can increase search capacity for laboratory testing and everything else.
To your point, residences -- we're not going to be ever mentioning residences. It's going to be expanded confidentialities, one of the discussion factors, to make sure we don’t identify an area, if that makes sense.
(Bob Moscoff): Yes. I agree 100% and would just say that I think the local entity that's involved is going to know best the balance between narrowing the area but not getting too narrow. Thank you.
Woman: All right. We have a couple of questions that came in through the box. Two of them are vector related, so I'm going to let Audrey talk about those. You want to just go through it, Audrey?
(Audrey Lenhart): Sure. The first question states: Under the vector control section, it's at the end of the paragraph, and vector and federal vector contracts to extend the mosquito surveillance control. Please describe this capability and if it is contingent to PHEP funding.
Okay. To answer that question, CDC has a limited task order in place for supporting states' needs. But at the activation of this contract will only be made when local and state resources are deemed insufficient for the required response. The CDC will help make that determination in consultation with the state after a detailed assessment of that situation.
In addition to that, we also have a training contract in place with the American Mosquito Control Association that's available for - just seeing an increasing capacity, especially around where mosquito surveillance and insecticide-resistant surveillance in different states.
Chris Kosmos: All right. And the second one?
(Audrey): Okay. The second question: Does any indication from your support of study locations regarding vector capacity for domestic mosquito species, have any species been ruled out as potential Zika vectors?
The answer to that at this point, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the only known Zika vectors in the continental US. And we haven't ruled out certainly either of those as being potential vectors nor have we added any new potential vectors to that list.
Chris Kosmos: Okay. All right. And then Peggy, there was a question about pregnancy and the travel guidance and relocation. So you want to handle that one?
(Peggy Honein): Sure. So the specific question is: For CONUS and Hawaii Zika transmission areas, travel guidance includes advice for pregnant woman to avoid travel to the local transmission area. For pregnant women residing in an area that becomes designated as a transmission area, was there any thought to providing guidance for them to consider relocating out of the area for the duration of pregnancy?
We have discussed this at CDC, but our guidance is consistent with the guidance we have for the US territories that do have ongoing local transmission of Zika virus infection. And that is that pregnant women should take steps to carefully avoid exposure to Zika virus through mosquito bites or through sexual transmission.
I think it would be important to reiterate that guidance in areas with local transmission of Zika to make sure we're minimizing the risk of infection of pregnant women. I think the other factor to consider is that because of the time delays and identifying local transmission, it's very possible that the period of highest risk in that area might have passed before we identify it. And I think the practicalities of trying to relocate pregnant women and their families could be extensive.
Chris Kosmos: All right. Thank you. And then we had a question as to why three mosquito incubation periods when there is no new human cases, why that's the recommendation to discontinue Zika transmission area? So Lyle, do you want to handle that one?
Lyle Peterson: Yes. So the mosquito incubation period, which in entomology terms would be considered the extrinsic incubation period, actually varies by things like temperature and can vary fairly widely. We've used 15 days as an average. It could be shorter than that. It could be longer than that, depending on ambient temperature, for example.
The other factor is that some of the human cases, certainly with Zika, in fact, the majority may be asymptomatic. So transmission events could occur sequentially and silently. So given those two factors, we figure that a good margin of safety would be three extrinsic incubation periods, which would account for both potential variation and length as well as the fact that silent transmission could be occurring that's not detected.
Chris Kosmos: All right. Thank you. We did also receive a question about the Pacific islands and how do they factor into this plan. Many things are the same but some things are different, obviously.
We have worked specifically with the Pacific Islands on developing their own plan that's specific to them. And that is probably the better way to handle the plan for Pacific Islands. We have specific plans for Puerto Rico and USVI as well.
Next question, please.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from (Robin Lettic). Your line is open.
(Robin Lettic): Hi. Thanks. This is Robin from Chicago Department of Public Health. Going back to the communication piece, we in Chicago are trying to focus more efforts on reaching out to providers; specifically, ob/gyn and primary care providers that are really caring for the target population.
But I guess I was wondering if at the national levels you see if reaching out to similar groups kind of nationally and if there are ways that locally we can align some of those efforts with what's happening nationally.
John O’Connor: Thank you for the question. We've got a couple of ways in which we do that. One is through our COCA calls. We've had a couple of those already. Those are national calls. They're really webinars that slides are provided and we've got SMEs on the line. They're on a very targeted issue. And it's an opportunity to educate providers in that way.
We also have a clinical update that is sent out on a regular basis that includes sort of the latest information that we have, many times in a more technical kind of way than what you would find on our website. There are 35,000 subscribers to that, so that's sent out on a regular basis.
Within the CDC response structure, we have teams that through their own particular channels reach out and work directly with providers for information. It's done through a number of ways.
(Peggy Honein): This is Peggy. If I could just add to that exactly what John was alluding to. In the pregnancy and birth defects task force, we've worked closely with ACOG to reach ob/gyns, with AFT to reach family practitioners, AAP to reach pediatricians and with a number of professional nursing organizations, both giving specific presentations to those groups, providing updated fact sheets and information and working with them to help amplify our guidance messages. So, when we release guidance, then they pass it onto their group.
Chris Kosmos: All right. Operator, we have time for a couple of more calls.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from (Oscar). Your line is open.
(Oscar): Hi. In relation to some of the communication, you mentioned about the public’s health in some of the Caribbean islands. In light of some of those travels that people have taken to Cuba, has there been any communication around that or any information as far as the rates of diseases in that particular country that you're able to share?
Man: I'm not sure I completely understand the question. With regard to Puerto Rico, I think you said Puerto Rico and Cuba and the Caribbean. As I mentioned before, our website has information available, both in English and in Spanish; that's for the entire website.
And then we also have a number of materials that are written in sort of a low literacy level. And those are translated as well. In Puerto Rico, we have campaign activities working with the Department of Health on that island and working through partners and doing a lot of outreach through media and billboards and other kinds of signage. So we're pretty active specifically in Puerto Rico.
(Oscar): I'm sorry. Let me clarify. The question wasn’t about Puerto Rico. It was more so about Cuba, especially since there is of course a renewed interest in folks traveling to Cuba and what information are we getting out of there and very much the good work you guys do in Puerto Rico.
Man: I was just going to add - sorry. CDC posts travel notices. I think there are 48 countries and territories where it's by country. You can go to the CDC travel site and look all of those up.
Lyle Petersen: I think - this is Lyle. I also think it's very difficult to determine the amount of transmission that's going on in any country, in Latin America, in the Caribbean, for that matter. There is limited laboratory capacity and testing in many of the countries.
We just don’t know how good their surveillance systems actually are for picking up suspect cases. That's our guidance, particularly in that region. It's based on the presence of cases or not. And given the fact that when cases are present, there is probably going to be a lot of them, judging from the experience with dengue in the region.
(Oscar): Thank you.
Woman: Okay. Operator, next call.
Operator: At this time, I show no further questions.
Chris Kosmos: All right. We've got a couple of things that just came in. A good indicator of where Zika virus takes place will be in those areas where you’ve observed dengue and Chikungunya. I think you’ve also talked about that, Lyle.
What kind of follow-up investigation do you recommend on Zika cases in the central or western US where we do not have Aedes aegypti or albopictus?
Man: I'll try and answer that question. First, certainly there are ares in the western United States where there are no vector mosquitoes; thus, the likelihood of transmission, at least from mosquitoes, is low or none. So certainly in those areas, we would not expect the same level of entomological assessment, for example. The cases still need to be followed up just to figure out exactly how these people got infected.
Also, it would be worthwhile to follow up the cases to ensure that sexual transmission, for example, was not a possibility or to advise the patient appropriately.
Chris Kosmos: All right. I think this is going to be our last question. It's about experiencing problems with providers ordering lab tests for persons who don’t meet the CDC guidance for testing now that commercial testing is available. People have no travel history or exposure history. And the jurisdiction has issued a HAHN advising providers that consultation and authorization was still required, even when ordering commercial lab tests. But this has not prevented inappropriate testing at commercial labs.
So the question is: Can CDC require or at least encourage that commercial labs have providers send in complete consultation with authorizing testing with their order? We're also concerned that reflex testing will not occur due to an inability for us to obtain specimens for reflex testing.
So, Kim, do you want to handle that?
(Kim Hummel): Those are all very good concerns. We share them. And so CDC has continued to work with our partners to discuss how following our guidance is very important for diagnostic testing. We don’t want to overwhelm the system and not be testing those individuals who become symptomatic or actually have travel history.
So we will continue to work with our partners on getting that message out.
Chris Kosmos: All right.
Man: I think also one consideration about testing people at extremely low risk is to predict the value positive of these people is going to be very low. So we certainly don’t want to encourage situations that will incur a large number of false positives.
Woman: Okay. I think with that, we are at 3:30 hour. So we're going to conclude our call today. First of all, I want to thank all of you for your participation and thank our CDC subject matter experts for joining the call today.
With that, we will wish you a good afternoon and a good weekend. Thank you, everyone, for your continued work.
Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect at this time.
END
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